The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer. Concurrent with the expansion of networking technologies, an expansion in computing power has resulted in development of affordable computing devices capable of taking advantage of services made possible by modern networking technologies. This expansion in computing power has led to a reduction in the size of computing devices and given rise to a new generation of user equipment that are capable of performing functionality that only a few years ago required processing power that could be provided only by the most advanced desktop computers. Consequently, mobile computing devices having a small form factor have become ubiquitous and are used to access network applications and services by consumers of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
A growing concern is the availability of unlicensed user equipment, which may have design flaws, manufacturing defects, and may be produced using substandard components. Such products may undergo little or no testing for compliance with safety standards and/or networking standards. It has been reported that some unlicensed user equipment may adversely affect network performance. It has also been reported that some unlicensed user equipment have posed a risk of injury and/or other health risks to persons who use such products.